The document discusses the development of a patient lifting robot. It notes existing technologies that inspire the robot such as dental chairs and forklifts. The robot aims to assist nurses by lifting and moving patients, helping to address musculoskeletal injuries nurses frequently experience. Such injuries result in high costs from sick leave, surgery, and early retirement. Calculations show a lifting robot could pay for itself within a year for a hospital ward by reducing such costs. The document outlines next steps of prototyping and marketing the robot to address shortages of nurses internationally.

1. Patient lifting robot

2. Inspirations of the lifting robot
PlanMeca, dentist’s chair Rocla, counterbalanced forklift
ABB, industrial robot
All technolgy exists, the robot only needs to be made!

3. How about when nurses are lifting
patients?
European safety standard SFS-EN 1005-02:
On industrial workplaces in manual load-
lifting maximum load is 25kg

4. Pictures: Respecta Oy catalogue

5. Pictures: "Potilassiirtojen ergonomiakortti - koulutuksen vaikuttavuus Rovaniemen terveyspalvelukeskus
Educational pictures of techniques to move patients safely

6. Pctures: "Potilassiirtojen ergonomiakortti - koulutuksen vaikuttavuus Rovaniemen terveyspalvelukeskus

7. Patien lifter with engine

8. Communal ”Kunta 10” –reserch:
The practical nurses had in average
25 sick leave days
while the average in all communal branch is 17,2
Only 60% of practical nurses
believe they can continue in their work until
normal retirement age

9. Children and retired people / 100 working aged persons
Source: Tilastokeskus. Työssäkäyntitilasto.
’Where can we find workforce on social sector year 2025’
TEM-analysis 43/2012 ’Mistä tekijät sosiaali- ja terveysalalle – työvoimatarpeen ja -tarjonnan kehitys vuoteen 2025’
is stating, that there will be shortage of 20 000 nurses in
Finland.

10. In her doctoral thesis Kristiina Hellstén is writing about the strain in
nursing work http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-5850-4
• Musculoskeletal disorders are the single most common trouble for nurses.
They cause tiredness, stiffness and forcefully hurting pain.
• In nursing work helping patients to move, the bent working positions and
amount of walking increase the commonness and severity of the disorders
• Sudden efforts when e.g. stopping a patient to fall may injure musculoskeletal
tissues permanently. Also long term minor owerload may lead into damages.
Ms Hellstén has volunteered to the patient lifting robot development project as
a customer’s reprecentative, participating in one meeting per month.

11. In a study conducted in Stockholm revealed that 82 % of back
injuries in hospitals and nursing homes happened for
nurses when lifting or moving patients.

12. Communal disability pension statistic the highest number are nurses
Musculoskeletal disorders are clearly the most
common reason for early retirement
Source: Eteläsuomen Sanomat 4.9.2017
Public Pension Office for muncipals KEVA states, that early retirements
costs are about 2 billion euro costs annually
KEVA grants approximately 10 000 new early retirements annually. If
even one early retirement case could be avoided, this would save for the
commune in average 100 000 euros
Source: YLE 29.11.2016

13. How could robot do this hard work?

14. Lifting fallen from floor

15. Lifting from bed for transport

16. Turning from lying on back to lying on side

17. Helping in standing up

18. Koko ja toiminta
Moving patient lying and in sitting position

19. Competition on markets

20. Finnergo upmove, new Finnish product, not a robot

21. Intellignet bed, Linet
http://www.linet.com/en/health-care

22. Toyota

23. EasyPivot

24. Wheelchair integrated in a bed, Panasonic

25. Flexbed
Currently in
a prototype
stage

26. The famous Robobear

27. 2014 award winner RONA and it’s ewolved version2017

28. If one takes a simple conclusion that one robot equals one nurse, the
potential market in Finland would be in upcoming 8 years 20 000 robots
simply because of the shortage of nurses. In case only 25% of the
shortage of nurses could be covered by robots and the margin on a
product is 20% of the end-user price 40 000,-€, equals
25% of 20 000 nurses / 8 years = 625 robots/year
625 × (40 000,-€ × 0,2 margin) =
5 000 000,- €/year
Naturally the product will be launched immediately world wide. The
demand is similar in all western world and widely in Asia.

29. Customer payback perior
is less than 1 year
On the next page a payback calculation, that shows how the acquiring one
robot in a 20 nurse hospital ward will pay itself in less than 1 year. Also
inestimable amount of pain and sad fate of nurses does not materialize.
In addition, some incidents that could be
dangerous to the patient are avoided.
These situations are for example when a nurse slips or back gets hurt while
lifting and the patient falls on the floor.
In mass production the price will be in between 30 000,-€ and 50 000,-€. The
estimation of the price is based on current prices of automatic trucks and
dentist’s chairs. Those are technically similar products and equally
complicated.

30. Customer payback calculation
On a hospital ward of 20 nurses, where majority of patients are unable to move on their own, acquiring one
robot, estimated savings:
• Decrease of the sick leaves from 25 to 20 days per year (still higher rate than average employee sick leave)
= 20 nurses × 5 days less × cost of one sick day 351,- €
(source of data about cost per day: Valtionkonttori) 35 100,- € /year
• Avoiding this: one surgical on knee, shoulder e.g., resulting from the strain in work. Cost of operation
approximately 8 000,-€, these are needed in average once in 5 years per 20 nurses. (Nationally these costs
were in total 54,2 million at year 2018, largest group needing this were nursing personnel)
1600,- € /year
• One case less in 10 year period: early retirement resulting from musculoskeletal disorders
10 000,-€ / year
Calculated savings in long term 44 700,-€/year
When the staff needed to lift one patient can be reduced to one nurse at the time in stead of two, easily 19
nurses and one robot can do the work on department. That would double the savings. Hopefully the
consequence is that the nurses will have more time to care for the patient in other tasks and no reductions
are made. The shortage of nurses may force into replacing nurses by robots, though.

31. Business model
All parts and also assembling will be outsourced. This means
low investments and assures the quality determined even in the beginning of production.
There are subcontractors already reviewed and finding makers for all parts and components
will be relatively easy.
The company is doing sales, marketing, takes care of logistics and does further product
development.
The launch needs to be done in a worldwide seminar, that is targeted the right customer and
in strong marketing effort. Before this only local marketing is done and the feedback from
customers must be taken seriously and insure the product is ready to impress the customer.
With the right timing of product launch and production readiness, we can be on the market
fast enough so that there are no competitors for the same product in the first couple of years.
Then there is time to get a decent foothold in the market.

32. Product development process
http://www.koneteknologiakeskus.fi/content/en/1/5/Home.html
Koneteknologiakeskus Turku Oy is competent and competitive partner
for detailed design and also manufacturing first prototype for testing.
Some discussionns have been conducted about the project. Also some
estimations of costs and schedule have talked about. This was 3 years
ago, so whole new negotiations are in place.
http://www.koneteknologiakeskus.fi/content/en/1/1039/Development
%20Services.html

33. Futher information,
Eevastiina Rindell
Product designer and automation engineer
+358 40 7075082
eevastiina.rindell@outlook.com